The Telangana High Court has ordered the state government to cancel land allotments made to industries that have not commenced construction or taken steps to establish businesses.
The directive was issued by a division bench led by Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas in response to a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Campaign for Housing and Tenurial Rights (CHATRI), represented by its secretary, S. Jeevan Kumar.
The court named several companies, including M/s Indu Techzone Private Limited, M/s Brahmani Infratech Private Limited, M/s Stargaze Properties Private Limited, M/s Anantha Technologies Limited, and M/s JT Holdings Private Limited, and ordered the cancellation of their land allotments if they did not initiate operations. The state government has been given four months to implement this order.
The PIL argued that public resources, such as land, should benefit the public and not be concentrated in the hands of a few. The petitioners highlighted that the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) had allotted over 4,156 acres of land in Hyderabad and other parts of undivided Andhra Pradesh between 2001 and 2006. These allotments were made on a nomination basis at nominal prices, bypassing public tender or auction, which the petitioners claimed violated constitutional principles.
A Right to Information (RTI) request revealed that these land allotments lacked a competitive bidding process, raising concerns about transparency and the loss of public resources.
In defence, the state revenue department argued that the demand for industrial land was low at the time, and the allotments were made to encourage industrial growth. They stated that land auctions were introduced only when the demand exceeded supply.
However, the court emphasised the state’s responsibility as the custodian of public resources to ensure that such resources are used for the public good. It instructed the state government to take action against companies that failed to develop the allotted land and prioritise public interest in future land transactions.
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